House
by Schadenfreuden
Summary: Naruto doesn't know why playing a perfect game of house is suddenly so important to him, but he's going to try, even if it means letting the scary new kid play (or making Sai the mum). A short of loneliness and how it binds them together. [Pairings: Sasu/Naru (Friendship/Implied), Sasu/Naru/Sai (Friendship/Implied)]


**Genre: **_AU/Slice of Life/General/Mild Angst | _**Rating: **_PG | _**Characters: **_Naruto, Sai, Sasuke | _**Supporting**** Characters**:_ Iruka, Lee, Kiba, Ino, Sakura, Neji | _**Pairings: **_None (if you're so inclined), NaruSasu if you squint, NaruSasuSai if you squint harder._

**Prequel to** _Home_ (s/8634551/1/Home)

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**A/N: **Hello. This is my first story here, and I hope you find enjoyment of any level in it. I wrote this very slowly, it taking an uncharacteristic two weeks to get out, a paragraph here and there, before I finished. I don't know why. I wanted something simple, something young, and it turned out to be 9.5K words worth (or according to ffnet, almost 10K o.o) of... I'm not sure. Then I toyed with the idea of posting it these last few days, but wasn't sure if it was good enough. I figured I might as well give it a shot, what's the harm?  
I haven't written in a very, very long time, and this happens everytime I return after years, or even mere months - I sound odd to even myself and write a bit all over. It's going to take some time I guess, before I can write something worthwhile.

Halfway through writing this, I realised I was writing it in a way that hinted of darker themes, and I wanted to continue it at first, but I thought it'd be too heavy for my foray into Naruto fanfiction, so I left it as an ambiguous theme.

This can be read as a **platonic** story, but you're free to interpret the **Naru/Sasu** or **Naru/Sai(/Sasu)** as you choose, which doesn't bother me at all, naturally.

Also, I think, as I feared, my Naru/Sai interactions were influenced a little by a story I've read in the past. Maybe I'm thinking too much about it, haha. ^^"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

Naruto usually likes it when new kids arrive.

New kids mean fresh chances at first impressions. To new kids, he's able to paint himself in whatever colours he chooses to, and they couldn't be the wiser. New kids haven't yet been tainted by the opinions of others. New kids couldn't possibly hate him yet.

Today, however, Naruto is warier than usual.

Iruka seems particularly gentle today, and that alone is cause enough for alarm; his soft words and rather merciful dismissal of Naruto's routine breakfast prank earlier this morning (glue under his plate - Naruto thought it to be clever) were all too suspicious.

He had slumped in his seat among the others, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he regarded his shared guardian with both disappointment and scepticism. His moue only faded when during Iruka's short announcement, the words _new friend _and _arriving this afternoon _reached his ears. By then, the man's poorly masked expression of concern was but a pin in the back of Naruto's mind.

Today, they have to play inside. It's raining outside, pouring down in buckets, and he feels restless for it. His usual frustration is dulled by curiosity however, and as he sits alone in the centre of the recreation room, surrounded by plastic building blocks and miniature action figures, he can't help but plan what he wants to say first to the new arrival. His lips quirk a little and he hugs his knees a bit closer in anticipation; maybe this'll be it – maybe this friend can be his this time.

He casts a furtive glance over to a small crowd of kids near the far window. He frowns at their rambunctious laughter, carefree and totally engulfed in their games in and out of the plastic house that is set nearby.

He feels a painful tug deep in his chest. _Oh_, how he wants to play with them too.

He quickly shakes it off and averts his gaze to his other side, where not too far off sits Sai, alone and seemingly unaware of it. Naruto's frown slides downward, almost comically, morphing into something between incredulity and disdain.

Sai is the only other kid without any friends, and Naruto is all too aware of this; he's even convinced himself that he only plays with Sai from time to time out of pity (or attempts to, at the very least). It is no easy feat, and Naruto knows that as well – intimately so. He might not understand the others' aversion to himself, but he has a pretty good idea for why people are hesitant about Sai.

The little dark one had been brought to the home two years ago, but he's still as strange as the day he arrived; maybe even stranger, Naruto thinks disapprovingly, and kind of stupid too. In fact, the dark haired boy is pretty much the stupidest kid he's ever known – Naruto doesn't understand how he just sits there and smiles like that, uncaring of the others' harsh jeers or utter disinterest in his existence. That lack of desire for acknowledgement is something Naruto just can't understand – unlike Sai, he wants to be seen, wants to be heard, and wants to be someone's friend.

Naruto snuffs quietly, and in his wait, revisits the memory of the day Sai arrived.

They had been really little then, not even five years old the both of them, and Naruto, as he'd always been, was eager to evaluate their home's newest addition. Iruka had guided him in by the hand, Sai's tiny, almost sickly pale fingers wrapped around his own, and Naruto bounded forward excitedly. He greeted the new one loudly, right in his face at that, all wild yellow hair and anticipatory eyes.

Nothing.

A couple beats more, and his excitement wavered, smile melting into something of a frown – the other kid had only stared at him blankly, _too_ blankly, and it unnerved him right away. Most kids were nervous when they first came, frightened even, but to Naruto, Sai looked like he didn't even know what scared was supposed to look like.

'_Iruka-nii, is he broken?' _Naruto had asked, looking confused, and Iruka had tapped his head in reprimand, a stern look on his face.

'_That's not nice to say, Naruto.'_

He'd looked back at Sai, pensive for a moment before allowing a fresh grin to split across his face. Obviously, if he wasn't broken, then the other boy had just forgotten some things - it wasn't the first time he'd been faced with someone like that. With a mental shrug, he pointed to his mouth then, and told Sai matter-of-factly, _'When you meet someone, you smile like this, you know_'.

To his surprise, and apparently Iruka's as well, Sai headed his advice right away. The smaller boy's lips twitched a moment, perhaps with uncertainty, and in the next instant he aimed a wide smile his way - an eerily accurate imitation of Naruto's example. Identical, it would have been, if not for the fact that Sai's eyes remained scarily vacant, his body language freakishly obtuse.

If anything, Naruto has been slightly afraid of Sai since then.

He makes a face and blinks himself back into the present. Sai is a weirdo, and what are the chances the new kid will be as weird as him? No – the new kid is going to be outgoing and fun, just like Naruto, and of course cool like him too, and he's going to love ramen and trouble Iruka with him and -

Naruto is snapped out of his fantasies by the quietening of the room around him.

At once, he sees what has captured everyone's attention.

He hardly recognises that Iruka had entered and begun talking, because his eyes are drawn immediately to the boy standing next to him, reaching no higher than the guardian's hip. He isn't holding Iruka's hand, is Naruto's first thought, and when he sees the adult's free hand swoop in gesture towards him, the boy does nothing to acknowledge him back. His eyes are nearly concealed by the sweep of a long, dark fringe.

Naruto finally breaks his gaze to look up at Iruka, and using all the wisdom his six and a half years has given him, tries to understand the mix of expressions fighting for dominance on the grown-up's face. Usually, Iruka looks pleasant if anything, an easy smile ever-present on his face when there are new arrivals to be comforted, but that smile looks layered to Naruto today. He's not sure why it looks as if Iruka is fighting to keep that upward curve on his lips, but he sounds normal enough, even when he tells everyone to treat Sasuke well.

Sasuke?

Is that his name?

Naruto blinks back to the boy that is already moving away from Iruka without any of the usual coaxing, brow raised as he follows his figure.

When Iruka tells everyone to resume their activities, the busy atmosphere builds up slowly, but surely once more. He looks to Iruka, and then to Kakashi, who he's only just noticed – was he standing near Iruka the whole time? Whatever the reason for his presence, it can't be a good one. He only knows that Kakashi is a special kind of adult, and only shows up when certain kids arrive; the last time he appeared was just after Sai had arrived, but that was long ago, and his memory is already a bit fuzzy.

He smothers his curiosity as best he can. He watches as the new kid climbs atop the protruding width of the ledge footing the window soundlessly.

Naruto doesn't run to greet the new boy today. His hesitance has earned him second place.

He gets to his feet but doesn't move beyond that when he sees the familiar bob of pink approach this _Sasuke_, now looking solemn over by the large window. Behind Sakura is Ino, Kiba, and Lee, a boy who's lived at the home for as long as Naruto has, and he watches openly as they huddle curiously near Sasuke's sitting figure, who is looking absently into the rain beyond the glass.

He can't hear what they're saying, and he can only make out Ino's anxious profile from where he stands. That, and the new boy's curled figure slightly elevated above them.

He doesn't seem interested in the slightest.

Naruto can only imagine Sakura's nervous chatter, shy welcoming and warm invitations to join in their games; it's something he's never had the pleasure of experiencing directly, but knows well from observing. It'll happen for him too, someday. They just haven't warmed up to him yet.

Mere moments later he sees Sakura and the others return to their friends, faces all clouded over with either confusion or disappointment. Naruto spares another glance to Sasuke from across the room, his blonde brows pinching inward as a bit of vexation escapes from his eyes and slips onto his visage.

How dare he decline Sakura's invitation? Who did he think he was, turning down a girl like that?

He should really go over there and give him a piece of his mind.

He glares sharply at the other boy from across the room, as if he'll catch fire if he stares hard enough. His feet itch to move, and his hands drop to his sides, hesitantly catching on his cargo shorts. One step forward and as if able to sense him, Sasuke turns his eyes into the room once more, almost instantly meeting Naruto's big, blue orbs.

Irritation forgotten, Naruto stares back, his mouth drying a little at Sasuke's empty expression. His muscles tense at his not so empty black eyes.

Naruto's hands tighten around the material he's holding on to, as if in anticipation.

After a prolonged moment, he's finally able to manage out an audible harrumph and breaks eye contract, before stalking off in Sai's general direction. Said boy looks up from his crayons at the blonde's approach, offering only an opaque smile that the other outright ignores before taking a heavy seat next to him at the table. He doesn't question Naruto's scowl. Naruto puckers his lips sourly.

He'll tell him off tomorrow, for sure.

* * *

The next day, Naruto is the last out of bed, as per usual. Iruka chastises him for it, but he doesn't respond beyond a grunt.

He doesn't seem to have the energy to pull anything before breakfast, and at his lonesome end of the table, swallows down some bland scrambled eggs and half a tasteless pancake before clearing away his dishes and setting off to do the chores assigned to him today. He's not sure why he's so tired this morning – he'd gone to sleep easily enough, and had stayed in bed until Iruka's routine nagging sounded at his shared room's door. The remnants of a dream escaped his mind just moments after blinking himself into consciousness, until all he could remember of it was a pair of familiar, coal-like eyes.

He isn't able to stop from rubbing his face and stifling yawns until well into mid morning, when everyone is about ready to head into the recreation room for play. The brief jolt of energy that enlivens his limbs at the thought of that dissipates when he realises there is no mention of outside again today.

Why is that? It couldn't possibly -

Sure enough, as he enters the room, the rain pattering away on the big window along the far wall taunts him cruelly. He sneers back at it. As if it cared.

He can't help but whine internally, kicking at the carpet in disappointment. What is he going to do, cooped up again all afternoon?

Naruto stiffens as a thought crosses his mind.

He purposely doesn't look for the new arrival today. He's probably not even around, he convinces himself, even though he can practically feel Sasuke's presence, those same eyes from yesterday boring into his back with intentions Naruto knows nothing of.

He shoves his hands into his pockets and jerks toward laughter a few steps to his right. Sakura is giggling, watching as Ino shoves at Kiba irately, and Neji, arms crossed tightly before them, is shaking his head sternly. Lee quickly raises his hand before jabbing a thumb into his own chest, stating something proudly, to which Sakura looks bewildered for.

"No way, you can't be the dad!" She tells him loudly, face stricken with an expression Naruto can't discern.

It occurs to him at last, that they're about to play house again.

"You wanted to be the mum Sakura, so Lee's gotta be the dad!" Ino informs her just as loudly, as if it made all the sense in the world.

"No, Neji can be the dad! He's way better at it! Be the brother, Lee!"

Naruto almost feels bad, with the way Lee's shoulders slumps at that.

He isn't sure what possesses him to do so, but with a burst of courage he decides then to approach them. His feet are moving before his mind can argue back.

It isn't until Lee turns to him with a curious expression that the others notice his standing there wordlessly, all blinking at him as if he were a perfect stranger. Neji's eyes narrow just a fraction and Ino looks highly unimpressed a moment later. Lee looks around once before greeting him rather brightly.

"Hey, Naruto-kun," he says, voice bearing no malice, though his rounded eyes flicker with the tiniest amount of uncertainty. Naruto hopes it is only for the way his friends look to him in disapproval for speaking to him.

"I can be the dad," Naruto blurts instead of responding in kind, and his nose wrinkles up in self-loathing instantly. "I mean, I'm really good at it. I can even pretend to drive, it looks real and everything, you know." He quickly masks his insecurity with a toothy grin, arms reaching up to rest behind his head in pseudo-confidence.

The others are silent for a moment before Kiba speaks up, "That's stupid," offering no explanation as to why.

"That's right!" Ino quickly seconds, and Sakura nods next to her in agreement. "You're way too stupid looking to be the dad, Naruto!"

"You suck at being a grown-up!" Sakura adds helpfully, looking sure of herself. Naruto wants to disappear. "Besides, we already have enough people. We definitely don't need you."

His grin finally falters at that. It really sucks hearing things like that from Sakura of all people.

Lee shifts on his feet before trying to interject. "We can let him try! Ah... well, he's never played before, he might be really good! And since Neji doesn't want to be the dad..." He trails off, his raised hands curling a bit at the look he receives from said boy.

Silently grateful, Naruto nods fervently. "I can do it, believe me! I'm awesome, y'know!" His voice is barely above a plead, and even so, he drops his hands at once, fisting them determinately. "I'll even cook so Sakura-chan doesn't have to! Even bring flowers, like on TV and stuff!"

He winces as Neji speaks, his voice calm as always, but biting and cold in Naruto's ears. "We didn't say you could play. Go away, Naruto - nobody likes you."

The others, save for Lee chorus in agreement. Lee doesn't say anything at all, only tugs at his bright green shirt and looks apologetically Naruto's way.

"Leave, stupid!"

"Go!"

"Yeah, get lost, Naruto!"

"Fine! _Whatever_!" Naruto all but yells over them, and he points a stiff finger toward them. "I don't need you guys, I'll make my own house and it'll be _way_ better than yours, you know!" He sticks his tongue out for effect.

"Yeah right!" Kiba and the girls are laughing now, and he hates the way his gut twists at the sound. It isn't like this has never happened before, so when he feels the corners of his eyes sting dangerously, he becomes angry with himself and quickly makes his leave.

Stupid Kiba and stupid Ino and stupid Neji and their stupid, stupid, stupid game of house. He almost wants to say _stupid Sakura_ too, but instead he kicks the floor roughly and thinks, _stupid Naruto_.

Stupid, stupid Naruto.

He rubs at a whiskered cheek and bites the inside of his lip to keep from crying. It's not worth crying over, not again.

After a few minutes of sulking he lifts his head resolutely and seeks out Sai at once – spotting him alone at the drawing table unsurprisingly, a pencil in his pale little hand and scribbling furiously.

Naruto runs past some others playing a game of jacks on the floor and nearly knocks into Shino staring blankly into the ant farm nearby in his sudden haste, and when he reaches the smaller boy, he tugs at his arm without warning. For a moment Naruto swears he sees something resembling alarm flicker across Sai's dark features, but if he does, it lasts only a fraction of a second before the other's face smoothes over in an obscure smile.

Naruto tugs him up out of the seat without a word, and Sai's fingers uncurl from the pencil, letting it drop to the table below. The smaller of them cocks his head to the side, though his expression doesn't change, and Naruto supposes that means he is questioning his kidnapping of sorts. He gathers his lips to the side concernedly, his wariness of Sai much fainter now than it had once been, and says by way of explanation, "We're going to place house."

* * *

"Oh my _gosh-_!"

Sai is _so_ dumb.

Naruto stomps his feet and wags a fist around, the knuckles of his other hand turning white around his 'briefcase'. Sai only blinks, unfazed as usual by the outburst.

"No Sai!" He declares, shaking the large, recycled tote bag – er, briefcase - in the other's face. "A mommy does all the chores and _then_ makes dinner, y'know! You don't make dinner after I _leave_!"

If Sai is considering what Naruto says, he doesn't show it. Naruto continues to glare at him, and it must be working to some degree when Sai finally asks, "But what if I'm hungry and you're not here? A mother doesn't eat unless the father is home?"

The blonde only twitches a bit at that. He's got a point.

"Well she already ate, so she doesn't want to eat anymore. She always waits until the dad and little kid are home so they can eat together." He knows so – he's seen it on the tele.

Sai's hollow smile only further frustrates him. "What are they supposed to eat?"

No hesitation. "Miso Ramen."

"Okay." The darker boy accepts easily. His head tilts to the side a little. "Who is the child?"

Naruto sighs long and hard, and imitates something Iruka often does when in his company – rubs his temples. There is no actual pain in his head yet, but he thinks this is a time where the action is warranted.

He stalks over to the stuffed toy –the biggest he could find earlier- on one of the drawing tables' colourful chairs –their 'dining room chairs'-, and dangles the fluffy pig by the arm. "He is."

"He?"

"Yes – Tonton."

Sai blinks. "Is that a person name?"

Naruto really doesn't understand why Sai is this dumb. He doesn't have any memories before the home, but Sai's only been here a couple years; since he probably had parents before, shouldn't he know at least a few things? And what was wrong with 'Tonton'? It's not any worse than being named after a type of fishcake.

"Yes!" He snaps impatiently. He forces himself to calm as he shoves the too-big fedora back on his head, leveling a miffed look at his company. "Okay so now I'm going to work, so just start cooking so that we can eat when I come back!" He wants everything to be perfect, and he's not even sure why. He doesn't want to think he forfeited that chance when making another boy play the mother. Rather, he had not a hope when he made _Sai_ play the mother.

He sighs and once he sees the dark-haired boy obediently turn to the plastic pots and pans Naruto had earlier stolen from the kitchen set, the blonde plops down over a sofa cushion, placing legs on either side of it, and picks up the toy clock he'd abandoned there moments before. Then, he begins to drive.

"Vrrrrrroom, vrrrrrooom!" He grins, holding out the circular clock in front of him, steering this way and that. "I sure am hungry, y'know! I wonder what is for dinner!" If he were a real dad, he would never have to wonder – he would make sure they'd always have ramen.

He tilts his body and mimics the screech of tires against tarmac, uncaring that he's knocked his 'briefcase' out of the 'car'. "Traffic is so crazy these days," he huffs believably. Figuring it's about time to pull into the driveway, he holds the 'steering wheel' up high (that's what grown-up's do to stop the car, right?) and lets out a giant gust of air and then a click to signal the dying of the engine. He feels oddly satisfied.

When he moves to stand up, he can't help but hesitate a moment - a strange feeling of intrusion falls upon him. Once safely to his feet he glances around, and is somehow not surprised that the only one who seems to have taken notice of him is the mysterious Sasuke. His face is unreadable from this distance and Naruto sticks his lip out in careful consideration for a moment, before brushing it off. What's his problem anyway? Naruto is obviously too busy to deal with him yet.

He feels Sasuke's eyes leave him once he turns around, and now focused on Sai, Naruto crosses the threshold of an imaginary door (so marked by two worn action figures and a few yellow building blocks). "Honey, I'm home~!" He calls out cheerfully in a voice as deep as he can make it, putting down his fedora and briefcase as he enters their makeshift kitchen.

Sai turns from the far table shoved against the wall of their claimed corner, looking fairly appropriate with the costume labcoat that's been folded and tied around his waist for an apron. Naruto might have felt he was putting an effort in by smiling like he was, if Sai hadn't always been doing just that. "I am almost done," Sai tells him in his naturally soft voice, steady and unchanging even though Naruto had suggested earlier the other try and sound more like a girl. He can't be bothered to remind him of this, because for all Sai's oddities, Naruto actually doesn't mind his voice all that much - even if it could use some feeling once in a while.

"Good! I'm starving!" He exclaims, plopping down at the 'dinner table' across from the stuffed toy. Everything feels right, and is going better than anticipated. "Tonton, how was school?" He asks, trying not to frown when the pig doesn't respond. "That's great, son!" He laughs in a way he's seen some fathers on sitcoms do, hoping it sounds just as warm and hearty as the actors portray. He wonders silently if real dads sound so inviting.

He glances to Sai who seems to be stacking things into bowls on the counter, and the blonde is surprised by how earnest he looks. Something about the scene causes him to bite down on the inside of his cheek.

"Sai, you're suppose'ta hum, you know."

Addressed boy turns around, visage masked with neutrality. "Hum?"

"Yeah," Naruto croaks, and he doesn't understand why he suddenly feels so down. "You gotta hum, it's just what mommies do when they cook."

Sai considers him shortly, before turning back to his plasticine-based meal. Naruto watches his back patiently for a change, and is astonished when the other actually starts to hum.

Sai has no idea what he's humming, and it is all too obvious in the broken notes and mismatched sounds. This only makes Naruto feel worse.

"You can't do anything right! Sai!" Naruto crinkles his nose and drops his face into his folded arms on the table. He knows that it probably isn't fair for him to yell at Sai like that, not when he genuinely seems to be trying, but he's too miserable to care just then.

A mommy hums. He knows this. They don't do it on the tele, but he _knows_ that they do. They sound sweet and gentle and they hum tunes that make you feel warm in your belly. He wishes he could hear it now.

A few minutes later, he hears the chair across from his drag out. He listens as Sai sits down near him, his hands brushing against the table. "Maybe we should get a girl to be the mommy," the brunette offers after a few minutes, sounding unusually thoughtful.

Naruto lifts his head, surely giving Sai a pathetic look. "Like _who_?" It is clear from his tone, that he means _there's no one that would play with us, so I'm not sure who you're planning to suggest_.

Sai's lips curl into a sickeningly artificial smile again. "I don't know."

Naruto sighs at that very useful suggestion. "You're a rubbish mum, so I guess we're gonna have to find someone." He turns his eyes to the table forlornly.

Another minute passes before he hears Sai's voice again. "How about Sakura-chan?"

Naruto snaps his head up. "Eh?" Sai gestures to the opposite corner, where Kiba and Ino are fighting again, hair tugging, finger pointing, and name calling all being exercised freely. His brow furrows in confusion until he realises the telltale pink head of hair is not there, but a few steps away from greeting Sasuke by the window once more. He wonders why she's bothering again, when he'd made it pretty clear already he doesn't want her company.

"She'd never want to be our mommy," Naruto tells him flatly.

"She doesn't look like she wants to play with the others anymore," Sai counters somewhat mechanically, observant as always.

Sasuke is obviously going to reject her again, Naruto thinks, feeling an involuntary pang of empathy for her. He wishes Sakura was nice to him, because he knows they'd make really good friends. He's so much cooler than all the dummies she seems drawn to.

He pushes his chair back at once and stands, to which Sai looks at him questioningly. "Well, c'mon then! Let's go ask."

Sai nods and stands as well, and in a flash Naruto is tugging him across the room roughly, determined look settling upon his face.

_Say yes, say yes, say yes. Please say yes. _

He swallows a knot in his throat as he and Sai finally reach the two of them, and he reminds himself sternly that he must be courageous. He'll look like a hero when compared to the scary new kid, who is surely very mean. He'll rescue Sakura, and make her smile with his offer!

He stops abruptly, unaffected as Sai stumbles into his back a little when he lets go of his arm. He's already eyeballing Sasuke, who of course acknowledges his presence immediately.

He acknowledged him right away. That's a first.

Naruto makes a face and stabs a finger toward Sasuke in a hurry, feeling pressured all at once when Sakura flips around to look at him. "You-! Don't be mean to Sakura-chan!" He declares, and purses his lips when he hears Sakura's haughty _hmmph_ at that. Okay, so she doesn't want to be rescued... but still.

"Hn." Is all he manages to extract from the other, and Naruto feels his face heat up with chagrin. Maybe this is worse than not being acknowledged. What if it is worse than being yelled at?

"I mean it, you know!" He asserts, narrowing his eyes when Sasuke does. The darker boy snuffs irritably and folds his arms over his chest. He turns his head away and closes his eyes as if their being there is a hassle, but offers no words to any of them.

_Not so scary afterall_.

"Naruto, you're such a pest!" Sakura instantly steals his attention back with a barely suppressed shriek. "Leave Sasuke-kun alone!"

Naruto's eyes widen. "But Sakura-chan..."

"We need a mother. Can you please be the mother for us? Sakura-chan." Naruto wants to laugh at the expression Sakura has plastered across her features, and he might have done so if he didn't feel so intimidated by the situation. She looks somewhere between incredulous and thoroughly creeped out - he can bet this is the first time she's heard Sai say a word.

"Yeah, please?" He adds. "We really need a good mommy, or our game's gon'na be totally ruined, y'know. You'd be perfect." Naruto restrains the need to wince, waiting for the blow. He scratches his upper left arm nervously.

It feels like an eternity before she says anything, and for the first time ever, he wishes he could maintain a stoical front like Sai. He squints one eye just a tad at her reddening face.

"Ew! No way! Like I'd ever play with you two freaks," she bursts with all the eloquence her seven years of experience allows. "Now stop bothering me all the time and play by yourself! _Jeez_!"

Naruto crumples under the weight of that. "Sakura-chan..." He rubs the back of his neck wearily. Well, that plan was a big, fat failure. Though, he'd already known it was a shot in the dark.

"How about you, Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto whips his head to the left, eyes bugging a little at what Sai has just offered. "Sai!" Somewhere before them, Sakura tsks loudly.

"Another person would make it easier." Sai says monotonously, smiling as he always does.

Not him! Two is better than three if their only choice is Sasuke, Naruto wants to say, but the words are jumbled in his mouth and he's only able to hiss out, "no way!"

Sakura laughs shortly. "You guys are _so~o_ dumb. As if Sasuke-kun would want to hang around you."

Before he can respond Naruto looks up at a shift near the window sill, regarding the way aforementioned boy is now watching them, annoyance palpable on his face.

"He doesn't even talk, y'know! Plus he looks angry – sure doesn't look like he even wants _you_ around either," and then he tenses up painfully, digging his teeth into his bottom lip so hard he wonders why it's not bleeding. His big mouth, his big stupid mouth!

Sakura is once again caught in between emotions, and neither of them Naruto likes, especially now that it seems hurt is winning. She growls even then, and Naruto is beginning to fear for his bodily safety.

"Let's go finish our game now, Naruto-kun."

Sai has already started walking back when Naruto finally pays him any mind, and when he sees that Sasuke is walking past him now, apparently following after the other boy, he blinks a few times in disbelief. He's afraid to look Sakura's way, but does anyway.

"Sasuke-kun! Wait..."

Naruto frowns at her weak tone, and still, he's puzzled for her fuss over the moody new kid. He doesn't get it at all. He shoots her an apologetic look and speeds off to catch up with Sai.

Arriving 'home' again, Naruto stops just short of Sai and Sasuke, the former looking at him with something distantly resembling expectancy. He doesn't know what to say, the atmosphere feeling all kinds of tense now that Sasuke is there, waves of a mood Naruto can't discern rolling of him.

He grabs Tonton and squeezes his arm, just for something to do.

"Sasuke isn't a girl y'know, Sai." Naruto finally says when the tension is too much.

Sai says nothing and only stands there with a grating, infuriating, aggravating smile that's doing a good job of drawing violent feelings out from deep within the blonde. Ah – now comes the pain in his head, but he doesn't rub his temples this time.

Naruto looks to Sasuke, and the other returns his gaze as soon as he does so. His expression is nearly blank again, save for the lingering flecks of irritation in his eyes. It can't be worse than Sai's inability to project emotions appropriately at all. At least, Naruto hopes so.

Is a game of house really worth all this, he wonders.

He tries to smooth out the crease in his forehead and clears his throat. He'll have to live with Sai's flawed idea of motherliness, because there's no way Sasuke could do it; Naruto can't even fathom such an outlandish concept. "Sasuke can be the kid," he declares grudgingly, though part of him is so very curious for how this will turn out. Maybe it isn't worth it. Maybe it is. "Do you even know how to play? Sasuke..." His mouth feels awkward around his name, and he says it slowly, almost cautiously.

Sasuke nods.

Naruto thinks about returning to his lonesome for the remainder of their play time, and in that instant he decides yes, it might just be worth overpowering his misgivings for. He can do this. He definitely can, because he has to _now _anyway, much thanks to Sai.

What a pain. It's kind of nice. He's so ambivalent.

Just as he and Sai make to fix up the borders of their house again, Shizune and Iruka are calling for everyone to clean up and get ready for dinner.

The room-wide whining commences.

Naruto is frustrated and relieved all at once.

* * *

The next day, he finds himself waiting for Sai.

This is definitely a development Naruto hadn't seen coming. Though, like most things complicated and curious, he pushes it into the far reaches of his mind and simply accepts what is in front of him without much contemplation. He isn't all too fond of change. It'd be too much a hassle if he had to ponder two things so unprecedented and out of character in the same day.

When Sai appears from the lavatory, Naruto turns on heel and begins his way to the common room, hands shoved in his pockets and head lowered. His back to Sai, he doesn't see that the other boy doesn't fake a smile for him; instead on his face lingers a barely-there expression of genuine bewilderment.

They reach the recreation room minutes later, and Naruto doesn't even bother to check for the weather this time. He knows it's still raining, but even if it wasn't, it wouldn't matter much. He would have asked Iruka to allow him to stay inside.

A small and curious sound escapes him when he sees that Sasuke is leaning on a shelf near the corner Naruto and Sai had been playing in yesterday. As if believing it to be a mirage, he does a double take, and then glances over to the biggest window in the room – Sasuke's usual spot. It's empty.

The silent boy looks uncomfortable as he stands there, expression bordering indignant. Briefly Naruto worries for just how irascible Sasuke might be; should he be concerned? The dark-haired boy hadn't made the friendliest of impressions on him. He frowns a bit without meaning to.

"Hey," Naruto says.

"Hey."

A blink. Then two. He has spoken, and Naruto finds this altogether fascinating. "Wow, you can talk?" He blurts before he thinks it through, the words coming out like some kind of verification of the obvious. At this moment the boy in front of him reminds him so much of the one hovering just behind him.

He knows for sure that the expression he sees on Sasuke's face really is irritation this time. "Of course," Sasuke snuffs. "Idiot."

The similarities end with that comment. This one has no problem conveying his feelings - even if it's only a select few. Sadly, he appears to favour the most unpleasant of them, too.

"Whatever," Naruto spits lamely and averts his gaze, feeling a bit foolish despite himself. He eases himself into a chair, next to where Sai has already taken a seat. He notices that the other hasn't grabbed any paper or pencils as per usual. When he looks to him, expecting what, he doesn't know, Sai only cocks his head and smiles.

He's not sure he can deal with two socially stunted friends at once.

_Friends?_

He glances between them, regarding each one a moment. Then, he flattens his palms decidedly on the table. "I want to play Batman today," he announces, referring to the action figures in one of the bins behind Sasuke's head.

"No." Sasuke says immediately, voice rigid and low. Naruto pauses in his move to stand, his bottom hovering over the chair. A beat. "I want... to play house."

Sasuke isn't looking at him anymore and Naruto doesn't understand why the other's head is bowed low, now hidden behind his dark fringe again. He brushes one of his own sunny locks from his eyes, lips curling inward.

He doesn't know why, but he feels the need to smile.

"Okay," he agrees readily. He doesn't _really_ want to do anything else, anyway. "I call being the dad though!"

The other is drawn from the haze of his mood just enough to look particularly discontent with that. "_I'll_ be the dad." His tone was no nonsense, but Naruto wasn't about to hand over the role to anyone, nevermind a new kid.

"I called it you know. Bad luck~!" He pulls at one of his lower eyelids, the pink of his tongue poking out in a taunt. "You're the kid! Kid, kid, kid!"

"Stupid!" Sasuke takes to the bait much too easily, Naruto thinks, but he's enjoying it. Riling him up like this – it is something he could definitely get used to. He prefers angry and animated over unreadable and reticent. "Why do I have to be the kid?"

"Do you wanna be the _mommy_?" Naruto snorts when Sasuke's nose wrinkles up in response. He thought as much. He turns to Sai and gives him a thumbs up, feeling suddenly energised. "Okay, let's play!"

* * *

Thus began the alliance known as Naruto and Sasuke, formed historically upon the realisation of a common enemy: the one known as Sai.

The game had started out normal enough.

Pretty suspicious.

So when Sasuke, who'd actually been quite vocal during the first half hour of their make-belief life – a light flickering behind his eyes that had amazed Naruto -, snapped at Sai upon returning home from 'school', the blonde felt oddly validated by it.

"Why would I want to play Mahjong after school? I have homework!"

"I think only grannies play Mahjong, Sai..."

"I thought it was something children liked to play with their mothers and fathers? Doesn't it make you smarter?" Sai blinks blankly between the two of them.

"No," chorus Naruto and Sasuke, both voices deadpan. "Boring; no one should play Mahjong." Naruto crinkles his nose. He's never actually played Mahjong before, but it looks complicated, and he really hates complicated things.

"Plus, the mother makes a snack after school," Sasuke says coolly, eyes closed a moment. Naruto watches him pensively. Sasuke has been correcting them over quite a few things, often gently and without interrupting their game too much until now. It was quite different from Naruto's usually boisterous demands and often made-up logic.

"Like eggs?"

"What? No! What a crap snack!" Naruto snorts.

"No..." Sasuke's voice is soft, softer than Naruto has yet heard. "No, she always made homemade mochi. Sometimes, she'd even buy my favourite fruit jelly from Ogawa-san in the market..."* Sasuke looks dazed, almost sleepy and Naruto feels his heart skip a beat.

"Sasuke..." He's wants to ask if he's okay – the air has stiffened around them considerably. It's making Naruto incredibly uneasy.

"Like konjac jelly? Oh, I think I have seen that before,"* Sai apparently doesn't recognise the tension, perhaps only considering how he's to mold the supposed jelly treats from plasticine.

Naruto laughs brokenly and rubs at his neck idly, not sure what to make of the situation. "Right, so... so Sai can make fruit jelly for snack, okay Sai? And maybe milk- ah, what do you drink with fruit jelly?"

Sasuke doesn't seem like he's going to respond at first, but soon he shifts and shakes his head with a thought. "Nii-san brought me Ramune even though mum said no,"* he explains, eyes glassy, "I promised not to tell."

Naruto has no idea what _Ramune_ is, but his unknowing of it isn't what is causing the confusion to swirl in his eyes, his frown to deepen in its curve; he resists the need to wipe at his eyes, though nothing is there yet. He's filled suddenly with emotion he doesn't understand, and yet somehow _does_.

Sai's smile is gone now, replaced by the equally eerie lack of expression he'd had the day he arrived at the home. His eyes twitch between Naruto and Sasuke but a fraction, and the blonde wonders if he's thinking. He used to think Sai never thought about anything at all, even mused once he was just a robot that responded to whatever was in his vicinity, but every once in a while he got the feeling Sai was taking something with a grain of seriousness.

In light of that, he wasn't surprised when Sai spoke up. Not until long after he was done, anyway. "I don't know what a mother looks like. I don't know what she does, or how she sounds, or what she smells like. I'm sorry I can't do it very well."

Naruto had looked away at some point, but his eyes immediately sought Sai out when he'd finished speaking.

Nothing.

There isn't a trace of anything Sai might be feeling on his face. Assuming he _is _feeling _anything_.

Sasuke clutches lightly at his deep blue shirt but doesn't respond, and Naruto finds he can't either. Sai's revelation is turning all of Naruto's theories about him on their heads.

_What is this feeling..._?

His chest aches and his palms are sweating a little, and Naruto wants to know so bad why things feel like this now. He wants so bad to see Sasuke's face, but the other won't lift his head.

"I'll do it right this time, Sasuke-kun." Sai's voice cuts through the heavy silence, sounding conclusive at last, and moves to turn back to the far table where he's prepared two 'meals' already before. Naruto's eyes are on his back, before dreamily blurring out of focus as he briefly wonders if Sai will start humming again.

The screech of a chair being shoved back snaps him out of his reverie.

Sai turns around and both Naruto and he look to upon their third, constantly on edge. For what, surely neither of them know.

"I'll be the mommy..." Sasuke says quietly, voice steadier now. "I know how." _I remember how_.

The other two nod wordlessly, having no objections. Naruto and Sai silently exchange a glance before clearing away the evidence of their old game, and preparing for something new.

* * *

"What is your job, father?"

"... Prime Minister of Japan."

"Really?"

"Yes. Also, I'm a policeman, y'know."

"Is it a lot of work? Do you also have to fight bad guys?"

"Not really. I have lots of subjects, so they do work for me too. Bad guys are too scared to fight me."

"Can you teach me too, father?"

"You can call me dad, you know."

"Oh." A breath. "Can you teach me too, dad?"

"To be a Prime Minister?"

"Yes."

"No. You have to be super strong to be the Prime Minister. You're weak still, y'know."

Naruto sighs lightly, wondering if that was the last of it. Until Sai had become the son, Naruto hadn't realised how much a father needed to know. Evidently, it took a lot of brains to be a parent, but he thinks he's doing a pretty good job of it all things considered. Though, he liked it better when Tonton was the kid. Somehow, it was simpler.

"How does someone get strong, dad?"

"I don't know, they just do."

"How did you do it, then?"

A twitch. "I was born that way."

"Oh." A couple beats. "Does that mean I was born weak?"

Deep breaths. This is all part of his job as father. Before he can think of a satisfying answer –

"How do planes stay in the sky, dad? Aren't they heavy?"

"I don't know."

"Is it the wind? Does the wind push them up that high?"

"I don't know."

"Why do some people eat with forks, and some eat with chopsticks? Do some people eat with their hands?"

"OKAY WE'RE HOME NOW!" Naruto declares loudly, so loudly it has everyone else around them pause in their activities to double check if the blonde has finally lost it. When it appears nothing else is going to happen, they resume their play once more.

"We weren't home before?" Sai questions aloud, but Naruto ignores the itty hole of logic the former has poked in his make-belief bubble.

"Yep, and it's time for breakfast! I hope honey has made something good!" Sai doesn't correct him, because he's likely not sure that husbands _don't_ call their wives 'honey' in the same way kids call their parents 'mum' and 'dad'.

"Like eggs?"

Naruto scowls, and pulls out a chair for himself to plop down into, Sai following in the chair over. Sasuke appears from the far corner, costume labcoat folded and tied around his waist as it had been once on Sai. At first Naruto thinks he looks distant, cloudy, but as the dark boy approaches the table, he sees a small but there smile itch at the corners of his mouth.

"Welcome home, darling. Was your morning walk refreshing? Are you hungry?" Sasuke's voice is the same spare the giddy upward inflection that clips the ends of his sentences.

Naruto flushes a little in spite of himself. He quickly shakes it off. "I'm dying!" he exclaims dramatically, holding onto his stomach tightly. "I need food! What are we having?"

Sasuke parts his lips to speak but pauses thereafter, seeming to have forgotten what it is he prepared for a moment. "Ah... Natto."

Naruto's face scrunches at that, as if someone were pinching it by his nose. "Ew why? I want ramen! Tonkotsu ramen!"*

"Tch, you shouldn't eat ramen for breakfast. Natto is better," Sasuke tells him, the semi-sweet tone from a moment ago nowhere to be heard. He straightens himself and turns to the counter to grab his prepared 'dishes'. "It's good for you, especially for growing boys," he continues in a mumble, sounding strangely scripted.

"Fine," Naruto agrees weakly, watching him carefully.

"Isn't Dad already grown?" Sai pipes up and Naruto right near instinctively smacks him lightly in the head.

"Shut up, Sai."

"Here we go: Toast, eggs, tea, rice and natto for breakfast. Eat up!" Sasuke places all sorts of molded food on makeshift plates before them, and even a few teacups that make Naruto wonder where he'd gotten them from. Next to him he hears a mumbling that sounds suspiciously like, _'eggs?_'

"Thank you for the food!" Sai and Naruto say at once, though in greatly different volumes and tones. Naruto averts his eyes from the unrestrained smile that stretches across Sasuke's lips just then. It is almost as if he was seeing him for the first time, looking so much like someone else in that instant... though he isn't sure who it is he's seeing.

"This is very good mother; I think natto is delicious," Sai tells Sasuke in a gentle voice, and the other nods appreciatively, reaching over to pat the boy's head like any proper mother.

"The toast and eggs are good," Naruto says, but it doesn't come out more than an ambiguous muttering. He looks at Sasuke from the corner of his eye and pokes at a molded piece of bread, watching as the other purses his lips disapprovingly.

"Eat everything, or you'll be hungry before lunch," Sasuke tells him authoritatively, shaking his head and putting hands on his hips, "and I'm not making you any more food before then."

Naruto harrumphs. He stabs a 'chopstick' (pencil) into a swollen, red ball of molding clay and holds it toward the touchy mother-figure. "No way. I'll eat this instead. What is it?"

"Hey!" Sasuke snatches it off the end of the pencil and places it down again. "Tomato for my breakfast, leave it alone."

"Tomato? Who eats a tomato like that for breakfast?"

Sasuke snuffs and crosses his arms. "Eat your natto."

Naruto takes that as a challenge. "No way, I want something else, y'know."

"I spent all morning making this, and you're not going to even finish it?" Sasuke counters, his head quirking at an odd angle and the strange inflection of certain syllables returning. "You should be more appreciative."

"Yeah well I don't like natto. No one likes natto," Naruto says, sounding ever so sure as he forgets Sai next to him. "I want chocolate pancakes with jam and whip cream!"

"That sounds like dessert! Absolutely not – eat something healthy," Sasuke insists, before leaning over the side of the table to pick up the temporary chopsticks Naruto had been using. He captures a bit of the molded natto in them and holds it up to Naruto.

"I want something tastier. Natto is not tasty," Naruto deadpans, and Sasuke looks politely impatient.

"Fine, don't yell at me later when you _die_," The elder of them seems satisfied when Naruto's face pales just a tad.

"From not eating natto?"

"From not being healthy. People die when they eat too much jam." Sasuke speaks in a way that makes this seem all very logical to Naruto, who may very well indeed, eat too much jam. He's glad ramen isn't jam.

Still, there must be other alternatives to things like natto. Certainly less smelly ones. His face crinkles again as he stares at the molded beans.

"Please?" Says Sasuke, and Naruto might have thought the former to not possess in his character, any desire for pleading. "If you eat it, I'll make your favourite thing for dinner." Or bargaining.

He is, though, surprised by the genuine tone of that. "Really? Whatever I'd like?"

"Of course! Now quit arguing with me and eat up!" Sasuke smirks and Naruto pretends to eat the natto, plucking it from the pencil with his fingers in reality.

Naruto's belly is twisting in a way it hasn't before, and he isn't sure if it's good or bad. He makes some exaggerated chewing and swallowing noises before saying, "Allright... it's not _so_ bad."

"See? You never listen."

Then, as if the last three days weren't already full of unexpected occurances, the unthinkable happens. Sasuke smiles so warmly, so proudly and before Naruto's thoughts can unscramble themselves from such a disarming expression, the other boy is leaning forward. Sasuke presses a sweet, chaste kiss to one of Naruto's rounded, whiskered cheeks.

"Thank you, Fugaku."

Somewhere between uttering those words and placing down the chopsticks, Sasuke must have realised what he'd done. Naruto swallows and cannot for the life of him stop staring at the other, who in turn is staring at the table like it was about to run off, or something else equally absurd.

The burning in his cheeks follow, especially warm where Sasuke's lips had lingered. Naruto lifts his fingers to the spot, uncertain for what to feel. The costume jacket he's wearing suddenly feels so much heavier around his frame than it did before.

_Did that just happen?_

Sasuke quickly straightens again, and looks away, though Naruto can see the telltale pinking of his ears from where he's still sitting, solid as a statue. He can hear the other mutter something, but can't understand it.

"Sasuke-kun?" Naruto jolts back to life, suddenly reminded that Sai is still next to him. Naruto is just this side of horrified when he realises he can decipher the look on Sai's face for once: subtle surprise. This must be the first sign of the world's impending doom.

"I don't want to play anymore," Sasuke says hurriedly, ripping off the 'apron' in a single rough, but swift motion.

"You... but, why... hey!" Is all Naruto can get out at first, and he huffs in frustration. A sign of recovery on his part. "I want two bowls of tonkotsu ramen for dinner. _Two_!" As of it helps any, he stands and holds up two very enthusiastic fingers towards Sasuke's slouching figure.

Sasuke only turns around and blinks at him, apron crumpled in his fist.

"I also want to eat that, mother; I haven't had it before," Sai chimes in, face oddly pleasant again. "I want you to play mahjong with me after too, if you can."

"Sai!" Naruto flicks the smallest's forehead, offering no explanation for the assault. He tsks and rounds the table quickly, pulling at the sleeves of his jacket and chewing his lip in thought.

Sasuke's looking caught between emotions, perhaps hesitant anger and utter chagrin, and Naruto grins widely at him. "You're actually really good at this, you know! Sasuke." He scratches his cheek absently as he regards the other boy carefully, and if he catches Sasuke's wince at his motion, Naruto pretends he hadn't. "You know a lot, actually. So they do that too?"

The darker boy's brow crumples a bit, obviously a bit confused. "Do what?"

Naruto shuffles toward him, eyes wide and full of childish curiosity. "What you did before, you know... the... um," Whatever confidence Naruto had be working on moments ago seems to dissipate. He thinks Sasuke is choosing not to fill in the blank, because surely he knows, if the way his cheeks pink and his expression darkens is anything to go by.

So, Naruto shows him, because that's what he's learned mommies and daddies do.

He's much less delicate than Sasuke by far, with the way he shoves said boy's dark hair out of the way so he can mush his lips to the pale expanse of cheek behind it.

Sasuke yelps and Sai gasps, and Naruto opens his momentarily closed eyes, wondering if he's done it wrong.

Sasuke shoves the blonde off of him weakly, face painted the darkest shade of red any of them have seen yet, and Naruto's own cheeks colour some at the sight of that. "What the heck are you doing, idiot!"

"I-I... I dunno... _you_ did it. I thought that's what a mommy and daddy does, since you seem to know!" Naruto pouts, unable to help himself.

"B-but... _I dunno!_" Sasuke stutters and Naruto feels sheepish and Sai let's out an unnatural sounding, short laugh.

"_Go to your room_!" Sai's eyes widen a bit at the way Sasuke and Naruto's voices chorus with the demand. He blinks and the other two turn away from eachother sharply, no shade of red darker than the one that's causing their faces to match.

Sasuke swallows roughly. "I don't want to be the mum anymore! I'm the dad!" he announces to his shoes.

"No way! That means – no way!" Naruto sputters, gaze lifting quickly. He stabs a finger in Sasuke's direction. "I'm the dad!"

"It's my turn!" Sasuke finally returns his gaze, a spark in his deep, dark eyes. "You be the mum, I showed you how!"

"As if I would, y'know! You be the mommy, you're... you're-you're more like a girl than me! _Girl, girl, girl_!"

Sasuke's expression flares. "Have you seen what _you_ look like! Stupid!"

The boys had slowly been gravitating forward, and now they stand before one another, noses centimetres apart, eyes of either one strong with defiance. Both raise curled fists upward and Naruto emits an indiscernible growl as the air around them crackles with an unreadable energy.

Sai watches on curiously, and since his friends have finally downgraded from words to angry growls entirely, he decides there is time for him now to voice his opinion. "Well, Naruto-kun is smaller, and his eyes are pretty... I think he looks more like a mother than Sasuke-kun."

Sai only smiles his routinely empty smile, of course not recognising what a non-verbal death threat looks like. Sasuke is smirking now and Naruto's head looks ready to burst.

"_SAI, SHUT UP AND GO TO YOUR ROOM_!"

* * *

"Well... I'm home," says the dark boy plainly, grunting a bit as he sets aside his briefcase and drops his bottom onto a floormat.

Sai smiles and looks up from his homework. "Welcome home, father."

The other nods and begins rubbing his socked feet. They don't hurt, but that's just what you do after a long day at work. "Where's your mother?"

Sai says nothing at first, but Sasuke is patient. Finally, "I think she's playing Batman."

A dumb look finds itself to Sasuke's not-so-surprised face. "Hn."

Speak of the devil, as they say, for Sai and Sasuke are alerted by a sudden, unhappy presence. Sai cocks his head and Sasuke can't suppress a secretive smirk.

"And after Batman," Naruto mutters roughly, looking away from the probing gazes and pulling his apron sheepishly. The action figures he'd snuck into his kitchen were abandoned on the far table. "We're going to eat ramen, and then play Batman some more." His cheeks are pinking again, but before Sai can open his mouth to ask, he says, tone no nonsense, "I'm the mommy and I said so."

* * *

**A/N:** I know it was not great, but any thoughts or criticism is most welcome. Also, I had a brief idea of writing a sequel, in which they are adults (this plot bunny was once in line for another story I'd planned to do, only involving adults), perhaps with or without sexual themes, but am not so sure yet. At first I was sold on just NaruSasu for this, but after including Sai, I'm really fond of him even when writing, so... *laughs a bit* SasuNaruSai is a thing, I have seen it before. *grins*

**PS.** I don't hate Kiba, Neji or Ino (I couldn't bring myself to make Lee any kind of mean ), or purposely make Sakura out to be the root of all evil (though I'd like too x3), but I needed nasty people, so. No intentional character bashing.

**PPS._ I do not mean in any way to promote gender roles, _**and Naruto's (and by extension Sasuke's/Sai's) idea of how the motherly role should be is both a mix of society's general definition, along with Naruto's own entirely crafted ideas of how it is/should be. He's an orphan who doesn't have solid experience/views on parents. The way gender roles are implied here do not reflect my beliefs or preferences.

Anyways, if you've read this through, I thank you.

* I don't think I need to explain mochi, the rice treat, very common even among non-Japanese. Here it is, anyway. o.o;

* Konjac (Konyakku) Jelly is the type of jelly used to make a lot of Japanese jelly-candy treats.

* Natto, most know this, is fermented soy beans, commonly ate at breakfast time.

* Ramune, I've learned, is a type of popular soda pop in Japan.

* Tonkotsu Ramen, is a pork-bone ramen, and is very creamy.


End file.
